Stonebond

Since opening in October 2022, Stonebond Manchester has gone from strength to strength, quickly establishing itself as one of the North West’s leading partnership housebuilders. Starting with a small team in Didsbury, the team has now grown to over 25 talented individuals, including our first graduate trainee who joined in August 2024. We’re proud to be on site delivering over 260 affordable homes in partnership with Great Places Housing Group across the region. With a recently acquired fifth site and over 400 units in planning, our partnership is set to deliver more than 600 affordable homes under our framework agreement announced in June 2023. With a clear focus on growth, we’re targeting 250 homes per annum by 2026 and a £60m turnover. Mark Russell, Managing Director of Stonebond Manchester, said: “From our beginnings in late 2022, we’ve quickly become a driving force in delivering much-needed affordable housing in the North West. We look forward to continuing our work with partners who share our vision.”

Last week we were on site in Halstead near Colchester, handing over the last of 71 new affordable homes that we’ve built for our development partner Eastlight Community Homes. Commenting, Peter Williams, Stonebond's Managing Director for Chelmsford, said: “Delivering Halstead as a 100% affordable development for Eastlight has meant we could make a significant contribution to the area’s affordable housing supply, giving local people great opportunities to move into a quality new home. We’re delighted to have worked closely with Eastlight’s team and look forward to partnering again in the future.”

***Senior Management promotions***   We’re very pleased to confirm two senior management promotions with effect from today.   Deepen Shah CA, ACT CertITM becomes Chief Financial Officer and Peter Williams becomes Chief Operating Officer.   Deepen originally joined Stonebond’s St Albans region, before moving into the Group Team and working closely with Peter, our Chair Richard Cherry and our CEO Graham Cherry. Peter is also currently the Managing Director of both our Chelmsford and St Albans regions.    Deepen will be responsible for overseeing the financial performance of the Group. Peter, who will continue to manage his regional responsibilities, will play a significant role in the implementation of our long-term strategy whilst bringing consistency across the Group with Land Acquisition, Start on Site and other key Executive sign off procedures.   Commenting on the appointments, Graham said:   “Deepen and Peter bring valuable experience to our Board. Both have already served a number of years with the business and they have a comprehensive understanding of the Group’s direction. Richard and I are looking forward to continuing to work closely with them as we implement our long-term strategy to become a leading partnerships developer.”

Congratulations to our Solihull team, who earlier this month secured a unanimous decision to grant planning permission for a new site of 67 homes in Evesham, Worcestershire. All of the homes will be delivered in affordable tenures, including social rent and shared ownership, making a significant contribution to the area’s affordable housing supply. The homes will be built using timber frame panels and we’ll also be contributing almost £200,000 in Section 106 contributions towards Special Educational Needs and Disability, community infrastructure improvements and NHS primary care. More than 40% of the site will be used to create new areas of open space. The team is currently seeking to acquire further sites in Worcestershire and the West Midlands - please contact Dan Forrester or Adam Baxter with enquiries.

We’re pleased to confirm that we have been appointed to Homes England’s Delivery Partner Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) for large sites that could accommodate 70+ homes. The DPS makes it easier for housebuilders of any size to access Homes England land, by giving them the option to apply to join at any time. Our CEO Graham Cherry said: “Homes England is one of the country’s largest vendors of residential land and we already have an established relationship with them via the Small Sites DPS. Being appointed to the Large Sites DPS gives us the opportunity to bid on much larger sites which have the potential to deliver many hundreds of new homes, and our appointment is a testament to the strengths of our growing partnerships business.”

We’ve recently partnered with Just Build Homes, a new platform that enables those in local communities who support the need for new homes to more easily view and comment on planning applications. Often, many people in favour of housing in their local area are not aware of how to positively comment on new proposals, but Just Build Homes seeks to address that. At Woodville Gardens in Redbridge, an area of critical housing need, we’re proposing to build 114 new affordable homes. You can show your support here: https://lnkd.in/egqQyYZb.  

We were recently onsite at Linmere in Houghton Regis with our partners Settle, Lands Improvement (LIH) and Central Bedfordshire Council, giving visitors from Homes England a site progress tour.   We’re building 140 homes for settle, which have received grant funding from Homes England, enabling the delivery of more affordable homes.   We’re the third housebuilder at Linmere, which over the next 15 years will provide around 5,000 homes in a series of interconnected neighbourhoods, each with a distinctive local identity.   Amelia Cherry MRICS, Land & Partnerships Director for Stonebond St Albans, said: “Linmere is a fantastic example of how housing partnerships can help tackle the nation’s housing crisis – working together we’re enabling the delivery of many high-quality mixed tenure homes, and we’re delighted to be working closely with our partners on this site.”   Homes England said: “As the Government’s housing and regeneration agency, increasing the supply of quality affordable homes remains one of our key objectives and we are committed to supporting ambitious housebuilders of all sizes to build those homes and communities. This investment through the Affordable Homes Programme does just that, enabling Stonebond to build much needed new homes the people of Houghton Regis can be proud to call home."  

In recognition of Remembrance Day, last week we worked with Takeley Primary School and the Royal British Legion to organise a special assembly led by former pupil Captain David Gunn, who served in the Royal Signals for 26 years. Captain Gunn reflected on the important of Remembrance Day and explained how Takeley had been impacted by both World Wars. Following the assembly, the pupils created a human poppy to honour fallen heroes. Discussing the event, David said: “I am honoured to lead the Remembrance Service in Takeley every year, to remember the sacrifice of those who have defended our freedoms and protected our way of life. Connecting with young people about this is an important part of Remembrance Day, so I was delighted to see the creative and respectful approach taken by Stonebond and the children at Takeley Primary School in their creation of a human poppy.” Thank you to the teachers who supported the assembly, Captain David, and the pupils for being so keenly involved.

***Site acquired in Gloucestershire***   This week our Solihull team entered into partnership with The Guinness Partnership to deliver up to 37 new mixed-tenure affordable homes in Maisemore, Gloucestershire.   This highly sustainable development will be constructed using closed panel timber frames, along with air source heat pumps and electric vehicle charging points to all plots along, with provision of new high-quality areas of open space.   The site, now owned by The Guinness Partnership, benefits from outline planning permission and we’ll be submitting a reserved matters application in the coming weeks, with work expected to start by summer next year.   Congratulations to the team for their hard work making this project happen.   Huge thanks also to Siân Longthorpe and Craig MacDonald of The Guinness Partnership, along with Matthew Roach of Walker Solicitors and Hannah Langford of Devonshire’s.  

Last week we welcomed Cllr Elaine Taylor, Cabinet Member for Decent Homes at Oldham Council, to our latest site in Oldham that we’re developing in partnership with Great Places Housing Group   This site of 42 affordable homes is built with off-site manufactured timber-frame open panels - a modern method of construction that means homes can be built more quickly than traditional ‘brick and block’ methods. This method of construction also significantly reduces carbon emissions and produces less waste, making it a more sustainable and environmentally friendly way to build. Mark Russell, Managing Director of Stonebond Manchester, said: “This method of construction is going to help us build faster and more sustainably, delivering the best outcomes for future residents.”   Cllr Taylor said: “It’s great to see modern methods of construction being used – making the properties more sustainable, faster to build and energy efficient. This is great news for the environment and future residents.   Nick Gornall, Director of Development at Great Places, said: “Great Places is committed to innovative and sustainable construction methods, a vision which is shared by Stonebond and is one of the common themes forming the backbone of our partnership.”   https://lnkd.in/eht2aw9J